Lawsuit Filed Over Pope County Casino License

by Kristin Higgins - July 25, 2024

The Pope County casino license continues to attract legal challenges, even as voter signatures to remove the location from the state constitution are being counted at the Capitol.

Arkansas voters in 2018 approved awarding four casino gaming licenses in the state. Amendment 100 required one of the casinos to operate in Pope County. The casino there has not been built because the license has been at the center of several lawsuits since applications were first accepted in 2019.

Earlier this month, Gulfside Casino Partnership filed a lawsuit against the Arkansas Racing Commission, Pope County's quorum court and county judge, and Cherokee Nation Businesses. The lawsuit came after the commission awarded the casino gaming license to the Cherokee Nation Businesses.

On July 16, Cherokee Nation Businesses filed a notice with the Pulaski County Circuit Court that they were moving the lawsuit to federal court. Judge Lee Rudofsky of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas will now decide the case.

The legal challenge may be moot if the proposed constitutional amendment goes to voters and they approve it. We will know by Aug. 22 whether voters will have a say on the future of the Pope County casino license. Local Voters in Charge submitted an estimated 162,181 voter signatures to the Secretary of State's Office this month seeking to qualify their proposed constitutional amendment for a statewide vote.